Parkwood

One Man’s Weed . . .

I finished up the last of the “PARK” streets this morning. I never would have guessed that there were 6 streets in Lakewood that started with PARK. Parkwood runs north and south just east of Bunts Avenue from Detroit to Madison.

Parkwood was in the middle of an infrastructure project and most of the sidewalks and driveways were torn up. I noticed several patches of Queen Anne’s Lace growing up in the gravel and dry dirt near the construction zones. They actually added a bit of beauty to surroundings. I have always thought of them as weeds, but a bit of research may have changed my mind.

According to food52.com, “The flowers of the wild carrot, or Queen Anne’s Lace, are as edible as the stringy root — but the culinary gem is its fruit.” Evidently after the flowers start to curl up into a nest-like shape you can see the small fruit emerge. They suggest removing the fruits, drying them and using them as a spice in salads or on top of a carrot cake. They even said you could use it to coat the rim of any summer cocktail.

As I was nearing the Madison end of Parkwood, I started having a feeling of Deja Vu. Originally I thought I had never been down this street before, but the houses started looking familiar. Then when I arrived at Madison, I solved the mystery. Angelo’s Pizza was directly across the street, and Parkwood is one of my go-to parking spots when we stop by on a busy weekend evening.